Lugano | A Day’s Visit Highlights

While in Milan this April for the Salone del Mobile, we decided to head north to Lugano, a city on the southern end of Switzerland bordering Italy. Our base was Como and therefore, it was quite easy to spontaneously drive off on a sunny Saturday morning along Lake Como and then head for Lake Lugano.

Partial view of Lake Lugano.

The actual drive through small villages and towns was simply fascinating. It gave us an opportunity to appreciate the refined beauty of this region. (As such, I compiled a video with some of the best things we saw at Lake Como that you could watch here).

The closer we got to Lugano, the more anxious I became. I had heard from my mother how beautiful it was, but I didn’t have the pleasure to visit this city till now. And she was right.

I was taken by the picturesque scenery of the mountains of the Lugano Prealps, the mix of old neoclassical and new buildings with some great architectural details that got my attention, but mostly with the waterfront promenade by the old town of Lugano, where our children enjoyed watching the ducks and swans splashing away.

A pedestrian zone in the old town of Lugano.

The Church of San Rocco.

That walk along the waterfront felt good as the warm afternoon sun rays touched our skin and our eyes filled with new information and beautiful imagery. The sounds of Italian speaking people walking along did not strike us as odd, even though we were officially in Switzerland.

Needless to mention, that there was a considerable amount of high-end retail shops with watches, jewelry and clothing apparel. There were also plenty of shops with local produces that included a fascinating assortment of chocolates and cheeses on display making it extremely hard to resist.

I also loved the fact that Lugano had a few pedestrian zones that led to a big square where people gathered to enjoy the sun, shop and eat, while everything felt so peaceful. There was a tranquility, similar to that of Como, but then again not commonly found in most other cities.

This was a remarkable city that we enjoyed only briefly, but were taken by the cachet qualities of this small city it and its gorgeous views of the lake. Thus, we promised ourselves to revisit soon and I think you should consider visiting her too.